Unbridled Infestation
by VideoSpud
Summary: Corvo has done his best to lead a life of isolation after Dunwall died, after his hands were soiled with the blood of those who wronged him. The Outsider has other plans.


**A/N: **Hello hello! It's been a while since I've written anything Dishonored-related and, in anticipation of the Daud DLC coming out next month, decided to start on a story for it rather than small oneshots. Do tell if the characters are OOC here at all, 'cause I really can't recognize if they are or not. ouo

Enjoy~.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any copyrights/trademarks/characters related to Dishonored. All those are reserved by Arkane Studios.

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**Dishonored**

**Unbridled Infestation**

Sashes of mahogany overlay the creamy composition of the night sky. Time is halted in this realm of infinity, never to move again, never to age another soul.

This is the Void. Fragments of lives float here, manifesting in cracked, dirtied versions of themselves - or perhaps, they are what these things truly are. Beneath all the gloss and glamor there is else but pain, terror, fear. The Rat Plague devours the rotten scabs of the Empire from deep within its twisted, beautiful core.

"It's irony," says the entity with pitch-black eyes, "or as you humans say, 'karma.' The Law of Conversation of Mass. What's given must be taken in equal portions, right?" He - or it, rather - gazes longingly at the stretch of events laid out before it. From the moment the Empress was murdered by Daud, all the way to when Daud himself was killed - and to the death of Admiral Havelock. He watches over this and more, never really influencing events aside from leaving his Mark on those that interest him.

"Why am I here?" asks a disheveled man, scruffs of brown crawling down the sides of his face. Musty chocolate hair reaches down to his elbows, almost like a cascade. A trench coat sodden in sticky blood hides his muscular figure from sight, cut off only by the cuffs of his sleeves and where his knees begin. What used to be peach-tan skin is now a sickly ivory, slickened only by the scars bruising its surface. "I've done enough already, have I not?"

The pitch-eyed entity's lips twitch into a smirk. When he opens his mouth to speak, his voice carries with it the reassurance of the ocean on a calm, sunny morn. "Only in part," he says, wisps of chaotic energy sifting around his fingers, "because there is so much more, Corvo. Your story hasn't ended...not yet."

"What are you talking about?"

The entity's form melts into a swarm of darkness that flows about the former assassin. Corvo stands his ground, gritting his teeth as the entity reappears behind him, one hand on his right shoulder, the other pressed against the Mark on his left hand.

"My Mark," the entity says through a smile, airless breath tickling Corvo's neck, "will spread." Shards of chaos gather and twist into the symbol, causing Corvo's soul to writhe. The Mark pulses in conjunction to each twist, glowing a bright, fiery orange-blue before settling down. Vine-like shapes twist down the former assassin's fingers, worming around the tips and fingernails.

The most he can say through the fading pain and deep breaths is, "What...what did you just do?"

"I supplied the Mark with more power," he says, flickering before Corvo. "Once more, there will be many choices for you to make in the coming days. How you use what I have given you - that's entirely up to you. Will you destroy," he subtly tilts his head towards the broken plains of Dunwall, "or will you walk a different path?" The Void itself flickers now, and disappears altogether.

The man awakens with a jolt, nearly hitting his head on the bunk above. Immediately his eyes rove down to his left hand, teeth clenching. The Mark glows for a sheer second in the darkness, from the center all the way down to the ends of the vines. So he wasn't actually dreaming; the Outsider really expects more of him.

Corvo leans forward and jerks his head into his hands, fingers digging through his shaggy hair, breaking the flakes of dry skin at his scalp. The Outsider's words echo in his head...

_I await your next performance, Corvo._

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**A/N:** So it seems like Corvo is getting into yet another situation where his decisions will be influencing multiple variables. The Outsider has made his Mark grow, but for what purpose? What will Corvo do? Will he walk a path of chaos again, or will he follow a more peaceful road? We'll just have to wait and see.


End file.
